The 411:

Saturday, October 8, 2011

9:00am-3:30pm

Location: Raven Hill Organic Apple Orchard, Julian, CA

Bus will depart promptly at 9:00am, please be sure to allow enough time to find parking.

Your adventure begins with a scenic bus ride from San Diego to Julian during which time Weir will discuss her hypnotic memoir, The Orchard, and Slow Food will educate us about the Gravenstein apple grown at Raven Hill and on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste heritage foods list.

Upon arrival in Julian, you will
have the opportunity to tour organic Raven Hill Apple Orchard , where
you will hand-pick your own bucket of Julian apples, and learn what
Slow Food Urban San Diego and Raven Hill are doing to promote healthy
farms. Perhaps a tasting might even be included. Then enjoy some time
on your own to shop or have lunch* in Julian before heading back to
San Diego. Your $65 event ticket
includes round-trip transportation, author discussion, an autographed
copy of The Orchard, the Raven Hill tour, a bag of hand-picked apples,
and a donation to Slow Food Urban San Diego to purchase heritage apple
trees for farms, community and school gardens.

*Why not make your Slow Food adventure complete with a lunch and local craft beer stop at Bailey Barbeque, located just minutes away from Raven Hill Apple Orchard (not included in ticket price).

As part of Slow Food USA’s The $5 Challenge campaign to take back the ‘value meal’, Slow Food
Urban San Diego is proud to announce that it will be hosting ‘Together We Can
Take Back the Value Meal’ on Sept. 17, 2011 from 9:00a.m. – 1:30p.m. The event will be open to the public and
will be held at Amici Park, located at Union Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Slow Food Urban San Diego is an all
volunteer, local chapter of Slow Food USA, a national non-profit
working for good, clean and fair food for all.

In response to a lack of access to fresh fruits
and vegetables, people eating more fast food than home-cooked meals and
increasing rates of diet-related disease, Slow Food USA’s recently launched
campaign is encouraging people across the country to cook slow food that costs
no more than five dollars per person, the cost of a typical fast food ‘value
meal’. Attendees of Slow Food Urban
San Diego’s event will take a pledge to do the same.Supported by SD Weekly Markets, the event will take place
alongside the Little Italy Mercato, where vendors will be offering $5 lunch
alternatives.At 12:00pm, the
community will gather in a lunchtime convivium.Slow Food Urban San Diego will be on hand at Amici Park from
9:00a.m. – 1:30p.m. to answer questions and provide member services.

The
$5 Challenge‘s overarching message is that slow food should
not have to cost more than fast food and that everyone has a right to it everyday.
Slow food – the opposite of fast food – is food that is good for those who eat
it, good for farmers and workers, and good for the planet.

“This is an opportunity for the San Diego urban
community to demonstrate together that there is a choice, and that good, clean,
and fair food can be affordable and accessible,'” said Kristen Goodrich, a
board member of Slow Food San Diego.

The campaign officially launches on Sept. 17
with a National Day of Action. Along
with Slow Food Urban San Diego, thousands of participants will be attending or
hosting hundreds of slow food gatherings nationwide.

“Right now, we have policies that make it
harder to feed our children fruit than Froot Loops. But everyday, against the odds, people find ways to cook real
food on a budget. We need to make
cooking and eating that way a possibility for everyone,” said Viertel,
president of Slow Food USA. “If you know how to cook slow food on a budget, The $5 Challenge is a chance to teach
someone. If you want to learn, it is a chance to get started. And it is a
chance for us all to unite and begin pushing for the change we need.”

There has been a tremendous amount of support from communities across America and the media is catching on too! From Chicago to New York, Washington DC to Detroit, the $5 Value Meal challenge is sparking the minds of eaters nationwide.